Palmah Flight Section

Preparing for a navigational flight The nucleus of the Palmah’s Flight Section is formed

In early 1945, the Palmah Staff decided to group its Pilot and Glider Course graduates in a single unit which would then join the Scout Section under Hayim Bar, which was encamped ay Mishmar Ha’emek Forest. In April the pilots were transferred to kibbutz Na’an as an independent specialized unit.

It was at kibbutz Na’an that the specific plans and operational patterns of the Flight Section were laid down, including reconnaissance and and aerial photography, liaison with the Palmah battallions on the march, communication with isolated settlements and airdrops of supplies. Besides their airborne activities, the Section’s members also wound up participating as explosives experts, scouts and security escorts in various Palmah operations – including blowing up railway lines and British radar posts, bringing illegal Jewish immigrants (ma’apilim) from aboard the ships which had brought them to the shores of Jewish Palestine, and carrying out other missions.